Workshops

All workshops are being held at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center, please check in at registration desk for exact room.

Drones and Content Creation Workshop

How to get better content and go from a hobby to an incomeLed by Jessica Elliott

Date: September 11,2019
Time: 9:00am – 2:00pm
Cost: $197.00USD

This workshop is for people who have a drone in their kit, but know they aren’t using it to its full potential. We will get hands-on experience in a photogenic area outside Billings and fly to practice various techniques and styles. We will then move to a classroom setting and cover how to make (more) money with your drone and aerial content.

In this workshop you will learn:

Flying and shooting: learn to go beyond the basic settings and modes to get better pictures and video

Admin and equipment: the practical, sometimes boring, but important stuff, that’s usually skipped

Drones in your business: making MONEY with your drone

Given the variety of drones available, this workshop will be tailored to the attendees. Prior to the workshop, we will discuss your gear, editing tools and goals to make sure everyone gets the most out of it.

Attendee Requirements:

Note: To fly in the US, you will need to have your drone registered with the FAA; if you have not done so already, this is $5 and takes a few minutes.

Any items you want to practice with – filters, etc.

Computer you edit with

Drones and Content Creation Workshop leader Jessica Elliott is on a mission to visit every country in the world and bring everyone along with her through photos, video and stories. She has a BA in journalism and a Master’s degree in Innovation and Change; however, her real skill is plugging in a USB in 2 or less tries (most of the time). She chose her blog name, How Dare She , because she believes daring isn’t about being fearless, but choosing to opt in, regardless of fear.

Instagram Account Positioning And Growth Workshop

Whether you are just starting out with Instagram or have an established following, these two courses will help your Instagram accounts grow and flourish. We will cover topics for beginner thru advanced users, including how to position your account from its inception, how to master Instagram’s AI and best practices for successfully working with brands. Courses can be taken separately or back to back. Everyone will leave with strategy, worksheets and an improved formula for success and community growth on Instagram and beyond.

Who this is for:

This course is appropriate for brands or blogger/influencers – anyone who wants to grow their account is welcome. Workshop 1 is for beginner to intermediate users, while Part 2 will pick up where the first session left off, diving into more advanced strategies and topics.

Workshop 1: Setting Yourself up for Success on Instagram

Date: September 11,2019
Time: 9:00am – 10:45am MDT
Cost: $85.00USD / Participants can sign up for either course alone or in combination with a discount ($149).

In this two-hour, hands-on session, we will cover the following topics:

Setting up an Instagram Business Account

Maximizing Your Profile Page

Who to Follow and Engage with from Day One

Developing Your Visual Voice

Creating a Content Bank & Content Calendar

Getting Started With Stories

Image and Story Editing Tools (basic review)

Image Scheduling Apps (basic review)

Account Growth “Services” & Clubs – Pros and Cons

Working with Brands 101

Common Instagram Mistakes to Avoid

Workshop 2: Mastering Instagram’s AI for Growth and Engagement

Date: September 11,2019
Time: 11:00am – 1:00pm MDT
Cost: $85.00USD / Participants can sign up for either course alone or in combination with a discount ($149).

In this hands-on, two-hour session we will cover the following topics:

Photography Workshop

Up Your Instagram Photography Game
Led By Andy Austin

Learn how to connect your storytelling abilities to visual story telling with a hands-on outdoor photoshoot and classroom editing session with travel photographer Andy Austin.

As travel bloggers you’ve spent a lot of time refining your craft as a story teller, but it’s time to up your photo game to the same level. Whether it’s a captivating lead image that is sure to make people open your blog, or that perfectly crafted Instagram photo that’s sure to win over your followers, this workshop is for you.

During this workshop we’ll head out to a beautiful Montana location at sunrise to learn from professional photographer and influencer, Andy Austin, on how to compose and take the perfect travel photo. After some time in the field, head to the classroom for a hands-on presentation on quick editing, crafting your social media message, and visual storytelling. This workshop is perfect for everyone from the iphoneographers to dSLR wielding pros.

Head out to a stunning location just outside the heart of Downtown Billings

Hands on tips and tricks from photographer, Andy Austin

Solidify your story telling abilities by learning what makes a captivating image

Learn the value of light, along with the do’s and don’ts of sunrise/sunset shooting

Get proven social media tips on how to create a beautiful feed and engage with your audience

Learn quick editing tips on Lightroom for a computer, or lightroom mobile for editing on the fly

Up Your Instagram Photography Game Workshop LeaderAndy Austin is a Bozeman-based adventure photographer who grew up in the mountains and plains of Montana. After attending Montana State University, where he played football and earned a degree in psychology, Andy traded in his football helmet for a camera and now spends much of his time traveling around the world. To date, he has photographed 35 countries and six continents but always returns home to the mountains of the West.

Photography Workshop Leader Andy Austin specializes in adventure and outdoor photography. Andy has made a name for himself finding beauty in otherwise overlooked locations to which he shares with his over 35,000 social media followers. Andy’s main clients include tourism regions and cities across Montana and Wyoming (including Visit Montana and Visit Wyoming), but his other clients include: Life is Good, Reebok, Atlas Snowshoes, Garmin, Firestone Tires, Kelty Backpacks, and more. His work has been published in Cowboys and Indians, National Geographic Traveler, Backpacker Magazine, World Wildlife Fund Magazine, Sky Magazine, as well as numerous books.

Thanks to the considerable amount of experience in 23 years of professional activity, Sante will address these complex topics in a simple and straight forward language which is easily understandable to a digital marketing audience in need of actionable, straight forward methods to analyse a website and decide how to add structured data to a website.

This is a practical workshop that will help you leapfrog your website into the age of Augmented Intelligence.

Topics covered

Part 1:

Introduction to Linked Data & The Semantic Web

Tools and language in Semantic Modelling

The “AAA” axiom: reducing uncertainty by disambiguating

Vocabularies and Ontologies: what they are and how they are used

Part 2:

Conceptual modelling of a website

Entity mapping

How to create a knowledge graph for your website

Real life examples, interactive work sessions on websites for Travel and recreation, Services, Business and Industrial segments

Who Should Attend:

This workshop provides participants with the most innovative and advanced applied knowledge in the field of structured data and semantic search. The format and content are ideal for professionals who are seeking actionable knowledge and a pragmatic approach to structured data.

This workshop best suited for:

SEO Consultants

Webmasters and web designers

Digital Marketers

Bloggers

Content Creation Professionals

Social Media Marketing Managers

Digital Strategists who work on the design and development of websites

Knowledge in software or programming expertise are not required.

SEO Workshop leader Sante J. Achille is a seasoned bi-lingual web marketing consultant with staff offering services in organic placement and and search advertising. He works in Italy out of L’Aquila, a small medieval town close to Rome.

He has an engineering degree, has worked for major aerospace organizations including the European Space Agency (Noordwijk – Netherlands), and has been working on the web since the very beginning in 1994. With over more than 24 years of hands-on experience in the digital marketing arena, Sante has reviewed and optimized hundreds of websites and successfully cooperated with small local companies and large multi-national corporations in the definition of their digital strategies, offering a wide spectrum of expertise essential to the success of a project.

Sante regularly attends and speaks at search marketing conferences in Europe and teaches SEO and web technology related courses and workshops. Sante is the Majestic Brand Ambassador to Italy, and Conference Chair at SMXL Milan.

Storytelling Workshop

So much about writing and publishing has changed during the past decade. And yet there still are basic pillars of storytelling that, if used properly can make your creativity shine and your travel content sing. Without them, or if they’re used carelessly, your storytelling rarely rises to level of engagement and quality that publishers and engaged readers increasingly demand.

Who this is for:

This session on quality travel writing, travel blogging, and editing is for any serious writer who wants to elevate their craft to a higher level. Whether you’re a beginner trying to write better stories that connect or a more advanced writer trying to get articles into better publications, this workshop is meant to provide a structure and set of pitfalls to avoid when creating travel stories.

Course Description:

In this hands-on, in-depth writing and storytellling workshop, you will learn from 20-year travel writer/editor. Spud Hilton has assigned or accepted (or dumped) more than 10,000 pitches from professional writers. He helmed and contributed to a travel section that won multiple “best travel writing” awards over a period of more than a decade.

You will learn tried and true storytelling elements and article frameworks that have succeeded since the days before the typewriter. The workshop will conversely cover—in depth—the seven worst things you can forget to do before hitting publish. You will learn which common mistakes travel writers commonly make and how to rise above the pack with both your angles and your finished articles.

As part of the workshop, you will get feedback on your article ideas, blog post ideas, and pitches from an experienced editor who has seen hundreds of great pitches and thousands of bad ones.